A Life-long Love Letter - A Paily Story - Multi-chapter
by freedom4trace
Summary: A little AU & cannon. Set at the end of PLL S4. Paige is at Stanford. Emily still in Rosewood. "3000 miles is a long way, 4 yrs is a long time, a lot can happen" Yes…It…Can! Is the love b/t Paige & Emily strong enough to overcome all the horror of -A, Alison, & the "goodbye" & can they find their way back into each others arms & into the life both had thought they had lost forever.
1. Chapter 1

"A Life-long Love Letter" – A Paily Story – A Multi-chapter FanFic

Author: freedom4trace/tracingfreedom

Rating: M/NSFW/18+/XXX

Disclaimer: I don't own Emily, Paige, Paily, PLL or anything related to them. I am just borrowing my OTP for a while to see where my imagination will take me.

Dedicated to: ScriptedLullabies (Neruda – Sonnet XVII)

Author's Notes: A special thank you to Sara Bareilles for writing and inspiring so may with your song "I Choose You" and to SONNOC for your Spashley story "Sincerely Yours." Both of these incredible pieces of art helped to inspire me to try this story out and to see where it may take me.

Set just after the end of PLL's Season 4.

I have no clue exactly where this story will take us, nor how many chapters it might be in the end, but it has been in the back of my mind for months and I just want to at least start it and see the response I get and see where it might lead me.

A Life-long Love Letter

Prologue

It had been six months since Paige had left Rosewood behind. It's June in Stanford, CA. The spring semester was over and Paige had nearly three months ahead of her with nothing but swim practice and memories of Emily Fields to keep her occupied.

Paige could not handle being in Rosewood any longer than she had to after Emily's "goodbye" that fatefully night she and the rest of the Liars took off toward New York to find, the once dead, now alive, Alison DiLaurentis. Paige knew without a doubt that giving that note to the police about Alison being alive was absolutely the right thing to do. She was protecting Emily in the only way she knew how at that point. Every other option had been stripped away from her. If she had only realized just how deep Alison had had her claws in Emily, she might have done things a little differently, but she knew she was right in what she did.

With Emily no longer anchoring her to Rosewood, Paige hurriedly made arrangements to graduate early and be in Stanford for the spring semester. It was now the beginning of June.

Paige found herself, once again, alone in her dorm room on a rare, stormy, Sunday afternoon. As seemed to always be the case, Paige found herself thinking about Emily and how she might be doing this afternoon. Over the last six months, Paige had done her best to keep track of the events in Rosewood despite the heartache it always seemed to bring. She had learned from her parents and a couple of friends that Emily and the other Liars had graduated and that Emily had chosen to stay in Rosewood and attend Hollis. Her dad's heart condition was the foremost thought on her mind when deciding to stay. Paige had also learned, just as she had suspected, Alison eventually showed her true colors and had landed herself in Radley. She never found out the whole story, but Alison was not about to be release anytime soon. Paige had breathed a great sigh of relief when that news had been passed onto her.

As the rain pelted heavily against the glass panes of the window close by, Paige's mind was consumed with thoughts of Emily. Paige had tried dating a handful of girls over the last few months, but the relationships never went beyond the first date or two. They were just not Emily. And no matter how hard Paige tried to deceive herself, she knew she would always be in love with Emily Fields. She had loved Emily since she was twelve years old and her heart would not let go. Emily was her soul mate and no one but Emily could fill the void that was in her life, in her heart.

As Paige stared at the dark clouds and the rain trickling down the window, the line of a song melted its way into her mind from the radio playing almost incomprehensibly in the background.

I'll unfold before you

What I've strung together

The very first words

Of a lifelong love letter

Paige bolted from her spot on her bed, heading straight for her desk. She flipped on the desk lamp, yanked the bottom drawer open, rummaged all the way to the bottom, and pulled out a very familiar box of stationary that she had had since she was twelve. She took out a single sheet and her best pen and began to write.

One week later – in Rosewood, PA

It's 6:30pm and Emily had basically fallen through the front door of her house, her hands full of bags from the market. As she makes her way toward the kitchen table to deposit all of the goodies she had purchased, she hears her father's voice from the den.

"Emily?"

"Yeah, Dad, it's me." She hollered toward the den.

"Would you come here for a minute as soon as you put the groceries on the table?"

The tone of her dad's voice was a little unusual and an immediate tightening was felt in Emily's chest.

"Oh, God. What was it now?" Emily thought as she timidly made her way to the threshold of the den.

"What is it Dad?" Emily tried to keep her voice calm, not wanting to give away her nervousness.

"A letter came for you today," a small smile playing at the corner of her father's mouth.

"A letter? You mean an actual letter letter, or just another piece of junk mail for colleges I'm not interested in?"

"A real letter Emy," he said handing it over to her.

"It's from California. From Stanford, California, to be exact," Emily's father added, walking out of the den with a bigger smile creeping up on his face; a knowing look in his eye. A look he expertly hid from his stunned daughter.

Emily's hands shook ever so slightly as she turned the letter over to see the very familiar script of the girl she once loved scrawled across the front of the envelope. She didn't even need to see the handwriting to know that it was from Paige. She instantly recognized the envelope because it identically matched the one still pinned to her bulletin board in her bedroom. An envelope with her name neatly penned across the front. Even after their breakup and the anger Emily had once held against Paige, she never had the heart to get rid of it. Even though she could not or would not admit it to herself, Emily knew the reason she couldn't throw out anything that Paige had given her or even reminded her of Paige. Buried deep under all the hurt, pain, and betrayal caused by "A" and Alison, Emily knew that she loved Paige McCullers with every fiber of her being; that Paige was her soul mate, and she hated herself for ever saying "goodbye" to her that fateful night almost nine long months ago.

As Emily's heart pounded heavily against her ribs and she desperately tried to calm her breathing, Emily walked slowly up the stairs toward her room, her eyes never leaving the return address in the top, left-hand corner. When Emily walked through the threshold of her room, she absent-mindedly closed the door with a push of her elbow and walked to the bed. She pulled herself up, crossed her legs in front of her, and laid the envelope gently on the comforter in front of her.

"Why would Paige be writing me? Especially now? After all this time?" Emily questioned.

Emily sat there just staring at the letter for more than ten minutes. Her mind bombarded with a thousand questions and a million memories all at once. Ever so slowly she reached out, tugged the envelope toward her, turned it over, slid her finger under the edge of the flap and pulled the letter open. She carefully gripped the contents and pulled them gently from their hiding place.

Taking a deep breath, Emily carefully unfolded the pages of stationary and began to read.

_My Dearest Emily…_


	2. Do You RememberWhen We Met? - Ch 1

Author's Notes:

Thanks to everyone who has reviewed and encouraged me to continue this story. I have a pretty good idea of what will happen in the end, but how we will get there is another story. Hopefully, it will all flow together eventually creating an epic Paily story for all to enjoy.

Anyway, as you have probably guessed, this is an AU story but with flashbacks from cannon PLL. I just pray I can do both Emily and Paige justice as I use their amazing love story to tweak my randomly, chaotic, imagination.

Please review if you have time. I never really know if my stories are touching lives unless I hear back from my readers.

Without further dribble from me…

**A Life-long Love Letter – Chapter 1 – "Do You Remember … the first time we met?"**

**"Why would Paige be writing me? Especially now? After all this time?" Emily questioned.**

**Emily sat there just staring at the letter for more than ten minutes. Her mind bombarded with a thousand questions and a million memories all at once. Ever so slowly she reached out, tugged the envelope toward her, turned it over, slid her finger under the edge of the flap and pulled the letter open. She carefully gripped the contents and pulled them gently from their hiding place.**

**Taking a deep breath, Emily carefully unfolded the pages of stationary and began to read.**

**_My Dearest Emily…_**

_Do you remember the first time we met Em? We were 12. It was the first week of summer, right after our 6__th__ grade year. My family and I had just moved to Rosewood and my parents were determined to get me settled into a routine ASAP and to meet some new friends so that I wouldn't be constantly thinking about everyone I had to leave behind in Pittsburgh. Mom knew I loved to swim so she signed me up for the summer swim team tryouts. I remember how nervous I was sitting around with all the other kids waiting for my turn to swim the length of the pool. All the other kids were talking and laughing with each other; you know, because they had all grown up together in this little town called Rosewood. I just sat there quietly because I didn't know anyone at all. Then you walked up to me, sat down, and introduced yourself._

_"Hi. I'm Emily, Emily Fields," you said enthusiastically holding out your hand for me to shake. I was so shocked that someone actually wanted to talk to me, I couldn't say a word. I just stared at you like a deer caught in the headlights of our car. When I didn't respond, you just kept right on going, like nothing had happened and started telling me about something Hannah had done the day before that had made you laugh so hard you nearly peed your pants._

_Now that I think back on it, I think what really got me that morning was not that you were talking to me, a complete stranger that shocked me the most – maybe it was at first – but it was that you were so beautiful, even then. I just kept staring at you because I don't think I'd ever met anyone as beautiful as you. And then there was the fact that I instinctively knew how incredibly kind and selfless you were, just because you chose to talk to that gangly 12 year old Paige. And then you were making me laugh with that crazy story about Hannah. I don't think I had ever felt so safe and comfortable in my entire life, well outside my immediate family. It was in those few minutes together, when we first met, that I fell in love with you. I didn't know it then. I didn't even understand what love was then. But now, six years later, I know that was the moment I fell for you and nothing has ever been the same for me since._

_Yours forever,_

_Paige_

"That was it? That's all Paige wrote? 'Do I remember the first time we met?' Of course I do Paige!" Emily didn't even realize she was speaking her mind out loud when she heard, "Did you say something Emy?" coming from the hall.

"No mom. Sorry," she yelled toward her closed door.

Emily was confused, a little frustrated, a little bit annoyed, relieved, and happy all rolled up in one BIG emotional, chaotic ball. She still had no idea why Paige had written her after all this time. No apology. No "how are you?" No "I miss you and/or I still love you." Nothing but a reminder of how they met. She just didn't get it.

Emily carefully refolded the letter and placed it back in its envelope. Huffing out a confused and frustrated growl, she opened the top drawer of her dresser and dropped the envelope on top of her socks.

3000 Miles Away...

Once again, Paige is poised in her over-sized beanbag chair with a clipboard, her best pen, and her stationary sitting beside her on the floor. A very specific song is heard playing softly in the background. She is thinking hard, her tongue gripped lightly in between her teeth, just the tip sticking out of the corner of her mouth in concentration as she methodically calculates how to phrase each sentence.

Again the top of the page reads:

_My Dearest Emily,_


	3. Chapter 2A

**A.N.**

I apologize ya'll for not getting another update to you. This is EXTREMELY short, but I wanted to get this to you…maybe to hold you over for a bit. I know what I want to do with this story, but I'm STUCK with how to get there. I had this all planned out in my head but didn't have time to write stuff down. Then I went to the beach in Florida for five days and I lost a lot of the details in the time I was gone. I had zero time to even think about writing. Hopefully I'll have a revelation soon and can get going again.

But a warning…my last summer in Grad school started on Tuesday and its gonna get crazy really really fast for me. But I'll do my best to keep to updates coming, even if they are small.

* * *

**A Life-long Love Letter – Chapter 2A – "Do You Remember …?"**

It was now the end of July and Emily sat in her room, eight letters spread out in front of her. What was Paige up to? One letter each week. Each letter opening with the same line: **_My Dearest Emily._** All of the letters were reminders of interactions between Paige and Emily in middle school. All happy memories for Emily as well as it seemed for Paige.

But Emily still didn't get it. There was nothing more than the reminders. It's not like Emily minded the highlights of their past, she enjoyed it actually. Some of the details Emily had not even remembered but when Paige reminded her of them, it bought a whole new level of significance to her. Paige remembered everything; absolutely everything. Emily was in awe of her recollections.

But, again, what was this all about? Emily had contemplated a couple of times of writing back; asking what this was all about. But there was something, something deep in her gut that said, "Wait. Not now." So she would wait and see what would happen.


End file.
